10 Film Franchises That Successfully Recovered From Awful Entries
1. The Fast And The Furious
The Awful Entries – 2 Fast 2 Furious (2002) and Fast & Furious (2009)
The Fast And The Furious turns 20 next year. Let that sink in for a moment. It seemed like a one and done deal following the release of the original film, a ‘reimagining’ of Point Break set in the world of street racing that was a moderate financial success.
Vin Diesel passed on starring in a sequel, forcing the now late Paul Walker to ride solo in 2 Fast 2 Furious, a forgettable Miami-set romp that upped the glitz and car sexualisation but kept the bar low in terms of plotting.
Tokyo Drift may as well have been a direct-to-DVD spinoff given that Walker bowed out, prompting the inclusion of a new cast of characters. A post-credits appearance by Diesel somehow led to a full original cast reunion for a fourth entry in 2009, however.
This is by far the weakest entry in the franchise. Too serious for its own good, it nevertheless resonated with audiences in terms of box office attendance. Fast Five was then a gamechanger, propelling the series into the stratosphere. The inclusion of The Rock, self-proclaimed ‘franchise viagra’ seemed to complete the puzzle, resulting in a film that was self-aware about how ludricous its premise had become but went along with it to great effect.
6, 7 and 8 have since all succeeded on various levels, with 7’s raw emotion in the wake of Walker’s passing truly standing out.